The social impacts of the Rea Vaya bus system on the residents of localities affected by the development: The Case of Rea Vaya in Moroka, Soweto

Planning Honours Report 2016, Wits UniversityThe Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 makes provision for community participation – as a tool to uplift/promote democracy at local level – prior to the implementation of large scale municipal development initiatives directly affecting communities. Although this has been the case with the CoJ’s Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, much media and scholarly attention has been placed on the Mini-Bus Taxi (MBT) industry and the extent to which its main stakeholders (taxi owners and drivers) are being socio-economically incorporated in the system. Yet, little attention has been given to the concerned commuters and/or communities, particularly their concerns and suggestions about the system. Aimed at filling this gap – and thus giving the community a voice in the operation of the BRT - this investigated the implications of Rea Vaya for the residents of Moroka, Soweto. The study targeted both users and non-users of Rea Vaya; and categorised the community impacts into five themes - safety, mobility, visual quality and liveability, and accessibility. Findings: Interactions with some residents of Moroka shed light on the actuality that in so far as Rea Vaya has socio-economically both its users and the Moroka community at large, the system is seen to be failing them. While the BRT stations, with their art (paintings, sculpture) and newly connected City WiFi system, have contributed to Moroka’s aesthetic value and digital connectivity of the area to other places. As well, it was noted that the system has ushered in developments such as the park and ride facility, among others, which has created employment opportunities for some community members. Yet, seven years later, the Rea Vaya BRT system has not managed to provide a reliable and accessible alternative mode of public transport. The level of service – particularly the electronic system – appears to be failing many of the respondents, and the low area coverage was seen as a major setback. This has meant that taxis remain more accessible for the Moroka community. Moreover, the findings reveal that little community participation was conducted prior to the implementation of the transportation project – the interviewed participants revealed that they were not involved in the determination of the routes that Rea Vaya would take - which has led to questions around who exactly the development is for: the government’s or the community’s. The findings indicate that even though the respondents appreciate the transformation of public transport in their neighbourhood, they have suggestions as to how its full potential can be realised and optimised. These results affirm that there is still more room for improvement in Rea Vaya in order for the system’s potential and operation to be optimised.Rural Development and Land ReformJJ201

A literature review of South African schools for the blind and their use of educational sexual models in comprehensive sexuality education

Internationally, educational sexual models (ESMs) have been gradually incorporated within comprehensive sex education (CSE) in schools for the blind (SFB). However, there is limited evidence that this has been taking place in South African SFB. The review sought to establish how these models are perceived by teachers and whether South African teachers receive any training or exposure to use these models during their teacher education. The review not only established that limited training and exposure is taking place, but that teachers state that they need these models but feel constrained by parental censorship. This meant that crucial information was lacking from these lessons (e.g., a real-life demonstration of the difference between an erect versus a flaccid penis). The review suggests that teachers need to be capacitated with appropriate pedagogy, competencies, and resources to respond to controversial areas of teaching and learning, such as the place of ESMs in CSE lessons.&nbsp

The employment experiences of graduates with disabilities in South Africa : challenges and resilience

A submitted thesis of Masters of Art in Social and Psychological Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, School of Human and Community Development, 2017The career trajectory for persons with disabilities (PWDs) has largely been associated with decline and stagnation. Resilience and positive attributes have not been investigated related to graduates with disabilities (GWDs) successfully entering, adjusting to and further developing within the work environment. The aim of this study was to report on challenges, resilience and positive attributes amongst GWDs as a positive contributing factor to employment practices as well as policy. A participant sample of 6 employed GWDs (working age 26-45; 4 males and 2 females; 3 Black, 2 White and 1 Coloured) were individually interviewed. The participants’ disabilities consisted mainly of physical, hearing and visual impairments. The data was analysed using thematic and discourse analysis. Results show that despite the negative experiences encountered within the social and work environment, participants demonstrated resilience within their narratives and decision-making processes. A self-developed conceptual model of resilience and positive attributes was thus proposed to track this resilience. However, the resilience observed amongst participants did not fully reflect the existing definitions and theoretical frameworks around resilience. Critically re-examining these existing definitions and the theoretical framework showed new meanings can be derived with implications for policy and intervention. The fact that the majority of participants did not show awareness of or ownership of their resilience shows a missing key element – that they are not only making use of it, but they also do not even appear to realise its importance.MT201

Analysing the hegemonic discourses on comprehensive sexuality education in South African schools

Despite the mixed public responses, the South African Department of Basic Education decided to issue its detailed comprehensive sexuality education scripted lesson plans for testing in schools. A desktop review was conducted by searching for digital newspapers on the online archive Sabinet References using 6 key terms such as ‘comprehensive sexuality education’, ‘schools’ and ‘South Africa’. In total, 128 newspaper articles were retrieved, but 83 were selected for a Foucauldian discourse analysis underpinned by governmentality theory. The newspapers reported on marches, letters and press conferences from various stakeholders such as parents, learners, teachers, and other social figures. Some stakeholders took the position of in favour of or against the rollout. Of interest was the seemingly neutral position where the reporting was presented in a balanced, non-biased manner. The current paper aims to make sense of this neutrality from both a newsroom reporting stance and from the public’s point of view

Queering South Africa’s protective school policy for LGBT+ youth : the Nare Mphale case

The transphobic abuse of the transgender youth, Nare Mphale, within the schooling environment has called into question protective school policy for South African lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other non-conforming (LGBT+) youth. Nare, who has since passed, was harassed after her school principal instructed her classmates to feel her crotch to “find out what is there”. This violation called for the identification, analysing, and queering (disrupting compulsory heterosexuality) within South Africa’s protective school polices for LGBT+ youth. This study also asked, which protective school policies recognize gender and sexuality diversity and teaching of inclusive curricula such as comprehensive sexuality education? What accommodations do these policies provide in terms of admission requirements, preferred pronouns, sex description change, dress code, and reporting procedures following instances of abuse? A critical analysis of 7 protective school policies using queer theory was conducted to establish how these policies protect LGBT+ youth. Results suggest that despite national policies (e.g., the country’s Constitution and the Alteration of Sex Description Act) making provision for the protection and realisation of the listed accommodations for LGBT+ youth, schools may fail to implement such policy implications based on their own interpretation of policies as evidenced within each school’s code of conduct.This was a self-funded study without external resources.http://www.journals.co.za/content/journal/jedsam2022Educational Psycholog

The sexuality of disabled bodies and individuals with disability in South Africa's comprehensive sexuality education scripted lesson plans

Local research has utilized both practical (youth with disabilities accessing sexual and reproductive health services) and theoretical knowledge (decoloniality, disability and sexuality) to understand the sexuality of persons living with disabilities. However, this knowledge has not been utilized to examine the visibility of disability and sexuality in South Africa's comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) scripted lesson plans (SLPs). A content analysis was conducted of all the Department of Basic Education's CSE SLPs (Grades 4–12). The study indicated that only in Grade 10 is disability and sexuality discussed in 3 activities. Within these activities, some attempt has been made to demystify certain misconceptions about the sexuality of disabled bodies (i.e. as celibate, asexual beings, with no romantic or sexual interests). The activities further debunk how various types of disabled bodies are sexual beings (i.e. not just those in wheelchairs). However, the fact that these discourses only emerge and left in Grade 10, raises concerns about the inclusivity of the CSE curriculum for disabled youth (e.g. CSE not acknowledging issues of power and consent amongst youth living with disabilities). A critical discussion is provided of the gaps identified and recommendations provided by existing practical and theoretical knowledge to inform the current CSE SLPs.http://link.springer.com/journal/11195hj2022Educational Psycholog

Smallholder farmers’ perceptions and adaptation to climate change interventions and support systems in Limpopo province, South Africa.

Master of Science in Agriculture. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2016.Climate change is one of the most critical long-term global challenges, especially for Africa and even more so Southern Africa. Agriculture is more than an economic cornerstone of most rural households in sub-Saharan Africa and climate change variations pose a threat to the agricultural sector and food security of these households. Climate variations such as increased hot seasons have been reported to lead to loss in food production through crop failure, human disease outbreak and livestock deaths. Several initiatives to develop climate change interventions and support systems are reported, however, it is not known if they are reaching and benefitting the smallholder farmers who are vulnerable to climate change. The study investigated smallholder farmers’ perceptions and adaptation to climate change interventions and support systems in Mopani and Vhembe districts, in Limpopo province, South Africa. Hundred and fifty questionnaires were administered to smallholder farmers who were subsistence farmers who produced for household consumption and only seldom sold; those who were farming for both household consumption and selling the surplus; and those who were mainly selling referred to as ‘food producers’ because their primary goal was to produce for the market. Eight focus group discussions were conducted to collect in-depth information on smallholder farmers’ perceptions towards climate change support systems, interventions and experiences towards climate change. Transect walks were done with a small group of farmers from four local municipalities to observe if the farming production systems and practices of the farmers were adapting to climate change and to probe on what influenced their decisions. The study findings revealed that crop production was regarded as a way of life for smallholder farmers in Limpopo province, especially amongst women farmers (72%), as it contributed to household food security and 73,3% farmers also sold surplus to generate livelihoods. The farmers perceived prolonged droughts (56.4%) as the main shock stressing their production whilst other farmers were of the opinion that very hot seasons were the significant shock (56%). The focus group discussions revealed that the smallholder farmers had different perceptions of climate change and the majority of smallholder farmers perceived climate change to be caused by supernatural forces. Only a minority adapted to climate change, by changing planting dates and intercropping. However 42% did not adapt due to water shortages and 67.3% were not aware of climate change interventions and were not receiving any climate change support. Consequently, almost all the farmers (78%) relied more on their indigenous knowledge for resilience to climate change. However, female smallholder farmers seemed to be more vulnerable to climate change impacts due to their age, health status and high level of illiteracy as compared to their counterparts male farmers, hence they were hit hard by the climatic variability and experienced measurable crop losses (68.7%). In response to the prevailing climatic condition different gender adapted different strategies, 41% of female farmers adapted to changing planting dates, while male farmers employed crop variety and diversification (35%) and mixed cropping (15%) better than female farmers. Therefore, this means there is a need to bring awareness of the implications of climate change to the farmers. There is a need to consider indigenous knowledge system-based climate change support and interventions to empower farmers with capacity to withstand climate change challenges. To encourage farmers to adopt climate-smart agriculture technologies, which can be achieved through creating and enabling policy environment for adaptation, the government also need to invest in smallholder farmers skill audits programme, in the long run, so that these farmers graduate from just being subsistence farmers and food producers to commercial farmers

The complexities of delivering a home-school based comprehensive sexuality curriculum to visually impaired learners

Following the ongoing study to develop a Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) curriculum for visually impaired learners in South Africa, teachers reported hesitance from parents/guardians to inform their visually impaired children about sex. As such, this study sought to explore parents/guardians’ involvement in their children’s psychosexual education. Five parents/guardians were engaged in a focus-group discussion. Data were analysed thematically, while home-school partnership theory underpinned this study. Parents felt confident that they had prepared their children with enough psychosexual education to make healthy sexual choices, and therefore blamed teachers, security guards, and hostel caretakers for their children’s early sexual debut. However, no blame or accountability was assigned to the learners for their own sexual behaviour and decision-making. Interrogating the complexities within these socio-educational spaces suggested that there was confusion in the roles and responsibilities assumed for the capacitation of visually impaired learners with CSE. More importantly, the problem was not that parents were worried that these learners were not having safe sex, but that they should not be having sex at all now or in the future. The study suggests that a supportive, non-judgemental, and collaborative home-school partnership is necessary to recognise and guide the sexual agency of visually impaired learners

Using governmentality and performativity theory to understand the role of social attitudes in young people with visual impairment access to sexual and reproductive health services

This exploratory study investigates how governmentality enforced by societal attitudes influences performativity of young people with visual impairment (PVI) to/not access sexual and reproductive health services (SRH). To explore this phenomenon, existing data was utilised from a focus group around the sexuality of young PVI with three experts in the field of visual impairment as a starting point. A thematic analysis revealed various challenges that might be encountered by young PVI as they access SRH, e.g. stigma. A Foucauldian discourse analysis builds on these challenges by suggesting that governmentality construed by institutional, macro-level structures (e.g. social attitudes) should not be taken as the only barriers to/not accessing SRH, but young PVI might also employ individual, micro-level decision-making processes (e.g. socially-negotiated rationalities) to/not access SRH. The final theorisation here remains unsettled; actual voices of young PVI need to be located in this ongoing conversation.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_genbeh.htmlpm2021Educational Psycholog

De/coloniality, disabled sexualities, and anti-oppressive education : a review of Southern African literature

This review seeks to establish the current body of knowledge on the intersection of de/coloniality and the sexuality of disabled individuals. It suggests that few studies problematise the lack of such intersections in Southern Africa. The review locates this dearth of knowledge within the recent rollout of comprehensive sexuality education in schools, which remains silent to intersections of de/coloniality, disability, and sexuality. This analysis builds on the recommendation of Kumashiro to consider marginalised and post-structural theories in developing anti-oppressive education for disabled groups in terms of their sexualities. This becomes relevant as the sexuality of disabled individuals has been subject to institutional oppression based on colonial ideologies of health, beauty, and sexuality, since socio-medical discourses portray disabled individuals as infertile, non-sexual, and degendered. Given the shortage of relevant studies, the review uses the available local and international literature to locate the complex, interconnected structures and actors that perpetuate repressive colonial systems such as ableism, compulsory able-bodiedness, and heteronormativity within sexuality education. It suggests alternative ways of looking at these intersections within the diverse scope of comprehensive sexuality education. It does not claim that decoloniality is the panacea to erase the consequences of coloniality towards disabled sexualities, but suggests that it is one of the modalities that can redress the complex, interconnected systems of post-colonial oppression. The review recommends that future authors consider other marginalised and post-structural theories in conceptualising anti-oppressive education, like Foucauldian theories.http://journals.sagepub.com/home/saphj2022Educational Psycholog